Author Archive
Is writing a nonfiction book a creative endeavor?
If you look online for inspiration, tips and techniques to demystify the writing process, most of what you’ll find relates to fiction writing. But is writing nonfiction so different, really, from writing fiction? I think not. No matter what you’re writing, the process is chaotic. Pulling something out of the mess is hugely creative. Donald Miller describes his writing process for […]
Vishwas Lele’s secret to turning a boring topic into a compelling eBook
Click here or click the cover to go to Vishwas Lele’s Amazon Kindle eBook. Vishwas Lele signed up to work with me as a Beta Author this past summer to write a short eBook. He is CTO of DC-based systems integration company Applied Information Sciences. I was delighted he was local because it meant we could meet face-to-face. Still, when […]
Why online programs are part of the reinvention of work and learning
Those who are not steeped in digital media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter) may not be familiar with a phenomenon that has exploded in the past few years. For lack of a better descriptor, I will call it the rise of online programs. Perhaps the best way to explain an online program is to articulate what it is not. I do not […]
3 tips to use the momentum of NaNoWriMo to write a nonfiction eBook
NaNoWriMo started yesterday! November is National Novel Writing Month and, in case you’ve missed it, this is the 14th year of this nutty annual event. NaNoWriMo is a writing spree for thousands of would-be novelists who commit to churning out 50,000 words of fiction in 30 days. Quality be damned. It’s quantity that counts. The folks who run this free […]
Make Your Idea Matter: how Bernadette Jiwa turned her award-winning blog into a bestselling book
I stumbled across Bernadette Jiwa‘s lovely short book, Make Your Idea Matter, via a brief mention on Seth Godin‘s blog. Bernadette is a rare talent in a special niche: she is a brand name consultant and founder of The Story of Telling. Born in Dublin, she is based in Perth, Australia which she calls “one of the world’s most isolated cities […]
I am not Seth Godin (but you knew that)
I woke up this morning with a jolt of humility. When Seth lifts his pinkie finger, hundreds of thousands of people listen. And thousands of them put down money – if he asks them to. This happened with his recent Kickstarter campaign. He raised $40K, his goal, in the first couple of hours. His total at the end of 30 days […]
Is writing a book on your 2013 list? Go for it.
You may have missed my bleeps around the interwebs about the opening of Beta Author Boost. Launching a program during the Presidential debates was not the best timing. Oops. The program runs from Nov. 15, 2012 – Jan. 24, 2013. Beta Author is a unique online workshop to help you write a short, kick-ass (aka high quality) eBook in 8 weeks. It […]
Why writing a book (even a short one) is scary
I’m going to divert from the official line for a minute and talk about FEAR as it relates to writing a book. The official line of the publishing revolution goes something like this, “Gee whiz, now anyone can write and publish an eBook to Kindle. Hey it’s as easy as writing a blog post and hitting publish!” Ha! If only […]
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